Coakley dismisses Schilling: 'Another Yankee fan'

By BEN SMITH

01/15/2010 09:10 PM EST

In the intensifying Democratic precriminations game over who to blame if Coakley loses, here's one for the blame Coakley camp: On another talk radio show, "Nightside With Dan Rea," Coakley jabs Rudy Giuliani as a Yankee fan, then goes on to describe Brown supporter Curt Schilling, the great former Red Sox pitcher, as a Yankee fan as well.

The host sounds incredulous -- "Curt Schilling? The Red Sox great pitcher of the bloody sock?" -- and Coakley initially sounds unfamiliar with him. She eventually reverses herself, but it's an odd moment in a state that was transfixed by Schilling's performance in the 2004 World Series, where he helped the Red Sox win for the first time since 1918.

A Republican supplied the audio (and the YouTube caption). Coakley spokesman Alex Zaroulis described it as a "very, very deadpan" joke, and another Coakley spokesman emails to note that she has Sox among her supporters and that "Curt Schilling has been involved in a lot of strike outs over time. I guess Martha whiffed on that joke."

UPDATE: Schilling responds: "I've been called a lot of things...but never, I mean never, could anyone make the mistake of calling me a Yankee fan. Well, check that, if you didn't know what the hell is going on in your own state maybe you could..."